Light emitting devices using a blue or near-ultraviolet LED (light emitting diode) as a light source and emitting white light by means of phosphors have found wide applications in illumination devices as well as backlight sources for image display devices, and have been increasingly required for higher efficiency. Conventionally, a surface-mounted light emitting device with a light emitting element chip mounted on a lead frame and resin-molded is commercially available. Furthermore, for the purpose of increasing light extraction efficiency, a technique is proposed for removing the support substrate of the light emitting layer by the laser lift-off process (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,241,667).